Men's basketball: CU Buffs rely on defense until offense returns

Boyle believes shots will start to fall

Colorado's Askia Booker (0) and Andre Roberson, rear, converge on Oregon's Carlos Emory during the first half of Thursday's game in Eugene.
(
Brian Davies
)

EUGENE, Ore. -- The Buffs returned to the scene of the crime on Friday afternoon.

Less than 24 hours after Colorado's noteworthy 48-47 road victory here over No. 19 Oregon, the visitors practiced for two hours at Matthew Knight Arena.

After becoming the first CU team to win in Eugene since 1955 and the first CU team to win a game scoring less than 50 points since 1967, head coach Tad Boyle made sure his third CU team started focusing on making more shots.

The Buffs (15-7, 5-5), who were 36.5 percent from the field (19-for-52) and beaten 37-32 on the glass, stole the win with an 8-0 run over the final four minutes.

"Our players could sense it and that's what they talked about: just getting stops. When your players start talking about it and buying into the defensive end of the floor, it means you have a chance," Boyle said. "The offense is going to come, it's going to go, and we've hit a little bit of a lull here where we're not shooting the ball well. So we've got to rely on something else to win games."

Askia Booker continued to struggle with his offensive game, finishing just 3-for-13 from the floor after going 3-for-14 during the Buffs' 58-55 loss at Utah. The sophomore shooting guard had a 101-degree temperature last week while suffering through the flu.

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Booker, who said his more aerodynamic new haircut had nothing to do with trying to get out of the slump, wrapped his two sore legs in ice after Thursday night's game.

"It's kind of wearing on my body, my legs haven't been the same," Booker said. "I'm just trying to get back into the gym, touch the ball a little bit more and get back into shape."

Josh Scott had seven points and two rebounds against Oregon while trying to defend the relentless Arsalan Kazemi (11 rebounds, six points, two blocks, two steals). CU's 6-10 freshman forward is averaging 5.7 points and shooting 36.8 percent over the last three games.

"They're good players and they're getting good looks. They're just not going down right now," Boyle said of Booker and Scott. "We just want to make sure we're not turning the ball over, which we didn't late (against Oregon), and getting good shots. As a coach, that's all I can ask for. We try to recruit guys who are pretty skilled. ... We're going to start playing better offensively. We're going to start making shots."

Andre Roberson (10 points, 13 rebounds) was the only CU player in double figures against Oregon. The 6-7 junior forward scored the game's final four points on two rebound baskets.

"We're a competitive team, we keep fighting. That's one thing this team has is heart," Roberson said. "We'll grow from this and our offense will come. We just have to continue getting better on the defensive end, and I think we took a step forward."

The Buffs will take the court one more time at Matthew Knight Arena for a practice on Saturday before getting on a bus and heading to Corvallis for Sunday's game at Oregon State (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

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